English Phonetics 1: Theory

English Phonetics 1: Theory BA Course (British English) SS 2009 Gunter Lorenz The LanguageCentre FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg English Phonetics The Basics 1A The subject matter: phonetics... + articulatory > How are the sounds of English produced? + contrastive > How do the target sounds differ from the learners' own language? 1

English Phonetics The Basics 1B The subject matter:... and some phonology... > How are the speech sounds classified into functional units of language?... contrastive as well... > How does the target phoneme inventory differ from that of the native language? English Phonetics The Basics 1C The subject matter:... from a learners' perspective + identifying the difficulties of the pronunciation of English + becoming (more) familiar with the pronunciation model + becoming aware of one's own pronunciation weaknesses + laying the foundation for individual accent therapy 2

English Phonetics The Basics 1D The task at hand: pronunciation difficulties structural (E vs G) (1) Unfamiliar sounds due to differences in sound inventory / T D w ZdZQ Œ / [ ] (lacking in Standard German) but also e.g. / z / (lacking in southern German dialects) (2) Rule-based differences E /s-/ vs G /z-/ (difference in the phonotactics of Eng and Ger) Auslautverhärtung (Ger) vs Word-final devoicing and pre-lenis lengthening (Eng) 2A Recapping homework: letters vs sounds (coursebook) Weak sound-graph-correspondence revisited: GHOTI (1) What is wrong with: English has a lot of silent consonants? >> silent letters: coursebook 27-E1 >> danger of spelling pronunciation: cf. also marriage, every (2) The pronunciation of <gh> (p. 28): /f/ /x/ Ø /gh/ plus: /p/... and of <ou>: /Å/ / / / U/ /au/ /ç / 3

2B Recapping Homework: sound functions (phonology) (1) terminology: phone phoneme allophone syntagmatic/paradigmatic field minimal pair (2) complementary distribution vs. "free" variation phonology sociolinguistics (cf. /l/-allophones) [t] [/] [t ] as in better >> allophones vs. stylistic (sociolinguistic) variants 2C Recapping Homework: consonants >> sounds you can feel! >> sounds which are not normally the nucleus of a syllable Obstruents: >> defined by manner of articulation: obstruction / blockage of air flow >> plosives fricatives affricates Sonorants: >> defined by manner of articulation: obstruction bypassed (or incomplete) >> nasals approximants lateral (approximant) 4

3A Overview: organs of articulation Glottal 3B Overview: table of English consonants Features of articulation (1) and (2): manner and place PLACE Bilabial MANNER Plosive Affricate Fricative Nasal Lateral Approximant p b m w Palatal Post-alveolar Alveolar Velar Bilabial Dental Labiodental Labiodental Dental Alveolar alveolar Palatal Velar Post- Glottal f v T D t d s z n l ts dz SZ r (ç) j k g (x) N h 5

4A Features of Articulation (3) and (4): voicing and intensity Voiced sounds are produced with the vocal folds vibrating opening and closing rapidly producing voice. Voiceless or unvoiced sounds are made with the vocal folds apart, allowing the air to pass freely between them. The distinction "voiced/unvoiced" is only valid for consonants, as vowels are by definition voiced. In the articulation of consonants, the feature of voicing usually coincides with that of intensity (fortis vs. lenis sounds): fortis sounds are usually unvoiced / p t k ts f T s S / lenis sounds are usually voiced / b d g dz v D z Z / 4B Plosives: best distinguished by "lenis vs. fortis" Manner of articulation: the plosion stopping and releasing air fortis: more energy, more aspiration cf. [thi m] [phi s] [khi n] lenis:... less energy, less aspiration cf. [di m] [bi m] [gi k] Note: (1) Aspiration of [t-] [p-] and [k-] is slightly stronger in E than in G. (2) In /st-/, /sp-/ and /sk-/, the plosives are de-aspirated: there is no aspiration in start, sport or school : *[stha t] *[sphç t] *[skhu l] Practice: tale stale dale tan Stan Dan wheat weed lout loud kit kid plate played cart card hurt heard trite tried fright fried cap cab pup pub lip Lib peg peck bag back pluck plug clock clog pick pig 6

4C Articulation: pre-lenis lengthening (pre-fortis clipping) Pre-fortis clipping is a phenomenon of the articulation of vowels before consonants. It can be shown that vowels are pronounced shorter ('clipped') if followed by fortis/voiceless consonants within the same morpheme. Conversely, we speak of pre-lenis lengthening, whereby a vowel is pronounced longer before lenis/ voiced consonants. For German learners of English, conscious pre-lenis lengthening helps to overcome the pronunciation problems caused by Auslautverhärtung. Cf. the length of /I/ in bit vs bid (lengthened) and of /i / in bead vs beat (clipped). 5A Fricatives (1): /s / vs. /z/ Alveolar fricatives (vs. dental and vs. post-alveolar): Practice voiceless [ TÌsÌS ]... adding voicing [ DÌzÌZ ] Note that both (Standard) German and RP have / s / as well as / z /, but their distribution is different. Many speakers from the South of Germany have the added difficulty that / z / does not occur in their respective dialect. Practice: The price of peace The price of peas The prize of peace The prize of peas (For more reading practice cf. pp. 58f.) Note: Use [ju z] is a verb and use [ju s] is a noun. We used to [ju st ] use [ju z] tapes instead of mp3s. (Practise saying these two sentences aloud.) 7

5B Fricatives (2): /S/ and /Z/ Post-alveolar fricatives + (voiced) /Z/ only in French loanwords in both languages fairly rare; in Southern Ger hardly ever voiced: cf. Gendarme, Blamage, beige. + some French loanwords allow both /Z/ and /dz/ pronunciation: garage, massage, prestige etc. /Z/ vs. /S/ words ending in <-sion> or <-sure>... + pronounced [-Z n] and [-Z ] after vowels: decision, cohesion, elision, pleasure, closure, leisure. + pronounced [-S n] and [-S ] after consonants: tension, expulsion, censure, tonsure. + both possible after <r>: cf. version, excursion. 5C Fricatives (3): /T/ and /D/ Inter-dental vs. post-dental fricatives + inter-dental variant is rare (and slower!) + German substitute /s/ for /T/ and /z/ for /D/ is unfortunate! + Note that some clusters of these sounds are subject to elision and assimilation, but not in: maths, deaths or this thing. Practice: pp. 89, 91, 92, 93 and 95. 8

6A Fricatives (4): /v/ and approximant /w/ /v/ labio-dental fricative top teeth on bottom lip friction stronger than in German! voiced between vowels and word-initially /w/ bilabial approximant rounded, protruding lips glide: no friction permissible at all! tongue almost raised to velum >> /u / Practice: pp. 71f. 6B Fricatives (4): /f/ and /v/ /v/ labio-dental fricative top teeth on bottom lip voiced between vowels and word-initially cf. of: [ v] [Åv] /f/ labio-dental fricative top teeth on bottom lip never voiced cf. off: always [Åf] Practice: pp. 73 and 75. 9

6C Affricates: /ts/ and /dz/ Post-alveolar affricates + (voiced) /dz/ hardly occurs in German substituted with /ts/ by most speakers: Dschungel, Maharadscha. + /dz/ very frequent in English cf. reading lists pp. 65-67. Note that word-final /dz/ deserves particularly intensive practice: ridge rich, edge etch, badge batch, large larch. 7A Approximants (2): /r/ and /j/ Practice: pp. 80f. and 85 /r/ post-alveolar approximant frictionless continuant prone to assimilation in CC clusters does not occur at the end of syllables in BE linking /r/ & intrusive /r/ /j/ palatal approximant glide prone to assimilation in CC clusters does not occur at the end of syllables in BE "intrusive /j/" 10

English Phonetics The Basics 7B RP vs GenAm: the rhotic /r/ A rhotic /r/ is a type of [r]-realisation where orthographic <r> is not normally pronounced in standard British English (RP). This concerns non-prevocalic <r> (at the end of words or before consonants) as in car or cart. Whereas RP has /ka:/, /ka:t/, GA has a rhotic /r/ in /ka:r/, /ka:rt/. Other such accents so-called rhotic accents include Canadian, Irish and Scottish English, as well as the West Country of England. 8A Introduction to vowels: definition >> sounds you cannot feel! + they are produced with your vocal folds vibrating, but without any further obstruction of the airstream >> sounds which act as the nucleus of a syllable + there is only one vowel per syllable (diphthongs count as one vowel!) >> Vs are susceptible to social and dialectal variation, and therefore convey a lot of social and regional information! 11

8B Introduction to vowels: quality vs quantity >> vowels are defined by their quality (the "colouring") and their quantity (the "length") >> quantity is determined... a) by definition: "short vowels" vs "long vowels" b) by its immediate environment (before lenis or fortis C) >> quality is more difficult to pinpoint; it requires: a) (above all) a reliable imitation of the pronunciation model b) a cognitive understanding of the parameters of articulation + front-to-back dimension: front central back vowels + height of tongue: high mid-height low vowels + lip-rounding: rounded vs unrounded vowels 8C The vowel quadrilateral: visualising vowel quality The vowel quadrilateral is a graphic representation of the position of the tongue in the articulation of vowels. The two dimensions of the vowel quadrilateral chart the front-to-back part of the tongue in relation to the height of the tongue; its shape mirrors the range of positions which the tongue can assume. English vowels fall between /i / in high front position and /A / in low back position. 12

8D The vowel quadrilateral: visualising vowel quality see leave Front vowels Central vowels Back vowels i food two u unrounded rounded High vowels I kit bid put good U Mid-height vowels e bed set ç bird fur Œ alone comma law north Low vowels hut bud got odd Å cat bad Q A far start 9A Vowels (2): diphthongs introduction >> realised as a glide from one vowel position towards another >> defined as one vowel, in as much as they are part of one syllable >> a little longer than long monophthongs / i Œ A ç u / >> falling diphthongs: + more weight on the first element + approaching, but not lingering on the second + true for both Eng and Ger, but more so for English >> practise and analyse: known loud fine noise fame beer tour fair 13

9B Vowels (2): diphthongs inventory ± ± ± >> closing diphthongs / U au ai çi ei / ± ± ± >> centring diphthongs / e I U / >> cf. pp 149 and 168 for charts on English vs German varieties >> read and compare: E loud G laut E fine G fein E joy G scheu E mare E beer E tour G Meer G Bier G Tour >> For more examples see the relevant sections of the book! English Phonetics Connected Speech 10A Linking across word boundaries Linking or liaison is a characteristic of connected English speech. Unlike in German, English words are linked 'seemlessly', with no separate onset at the beginning. A word starting with a vowel is attached to the preceding consonant (cf. notìatìall or farìaway), or, if the preceding word ends in a vowel, a glide (/j/ or /w/) may be inserted (cf. beì[j]ìitìasìit may or youì[w]ìare). Note that the phenomena of > linking /r/ and > intrusive /r/ are products of the feature of liaison. >> linking of consonant + vowel across word boundaries (p 183) >> special case: linking [r] (pp 184-5) >> vowel-to-vowel linking: intrusive [r], intrusive glides [j w] (pp 185-6) 14

English Phonetics Connected Speech 10B Definitions: linking [r] and intrusive [r] Linking [r] is a phenomenon in non-rhotic accents of English, whereby a non-prevocalic orthographic <r> is actually pronounced before another word starting with a vowel to achieve linking (liaison). Cf. for Ìa while or whereìis Joe. In a similar way to linking [r], the so-called intrusive [r] is a linking phenomenon, whereby a non-orthographic [r]-sound is inserted to facilitate fluent articulation. Intrusive [r] occurs between a word ending in / ç: A: / and another beginning with a vowel. Cf. vanillaì[r]ìice or lawì[r]ìand order. English Phonetics Connected Speech 10C Weakening: a phonetic process in unstressed syllables Weak forms are the result of a very marked contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables in English. In naturally spoken English, unstressed short vowels are reduced to shwa / /. Weak forms typically occur in monosyllabic function words (cf. and / nd/) and in the unstressed syllables of polysyllabic words (cf. collection /k :leks n/). Monosyllabic content words always get the full vowel value, i.e. they are not reduced. >> reduction of unstressed vowels to [ ] (shwa) >> p. 145 >> concerns unstressed syllables in polysyllabic words... cf. s k»ses n (succession)... as well as unstressed monosyllabic words in a sentence cf. wåt w z D fœ st TIN D t sprqn t maind 15

English Phonetics Connected Speech 10D Weakening: weak forms vs strong forms >> monosyllabic function words are usually reduced was strong form [wåz] weak form [w z] that strong form [DQt] weak form [D t] to strong forms [tu tu] weak form [t ] >> monosyllabic content words are not reduced first [fœ st] thing [TIN] sprang [sprqn] mind [maind] >> many function words have more than one weak form (cf. pp 216f) >> weakening can lead to vowel elision and contraction (cf. pp 219f) >> the strong form of monosyllabic function words is used when it signals grammatical or communicative prominence (cf. pp 220f) English Phonetics Connected Speech 11A Assimilation and elision Compare careful vs fluent pronunciation of the following exclamations: Come and get it! Stand back! I can do it!»k m nd»getit stqnd bqk ai k n du It»k m N»getIt stqm bqk ai kn`»du wit >> elision of /d/ elision of /d/ elision of / / assimilation from ~ ~ ~ ~ /n/ to /N/ /n/ to /m/ /n/ to /N/ (syllabic) In connected speech, the articulation of a sound is sometimes influenced by another sound nearby and adopts one of its features. In the above examples, /n/ changes to /N/ or /m/, thereby keeping its manner of articulation (nasal) and adopting place (velar and bilabial). >> Practice (p 226) 16

English Phonetics Connected Speech 11B Morphophonology: 'grammaticalised assimilation' (1) Suffix {ED} - after voiceless consonant - after voiced C and vowels - after / td/ > realised as / t / > realised as / d / > realised as / Id / apply to: play help add tour hum roast raise pass love pleid ñhelpt ñ»qddid ñtç d ñh md ñ»r UstId ñreizd ñpa st ñl vd exceptions: + ed-adjectives, such as wretched /»retsid/ or beloved /bi»l vid/ + archaic usage, such as blessed (are the meek) /»blesid/ English Phonetics Connected Speech 11C Morphophonology: 'grammaticalised assimilation' (2) Suffix {S} - after voiceless consonant - after voiced C and vowels - after / s zsztsdz/ > realised as / s / > realised as / z / > realised as / Iz / apply to: twitch help pass tour love blush raise cough budge»twitsiz ñhelps ñ»pa siz ñtç z ñl vz ñ»bl SIz ñ»reiziz ñkåfs ñ»b dziz 17

English Phonetics Connected Speech 11D Morphophonology: final note What is the difference? singer ringer swinger stinger versus finger linger malinger /-IN/ + {ER} > /-IN / one morpheme /-INg / 18